One-man comedy 'Goin to Jackson' coming to Southeastern's Columbia Theatre Aug. 22
Contact: Tonya Lowentritt
8/20/09
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HAMMOND – Playwright, lyricist and performer Jamie Wax brings his one-man show “Goin’ to Jackson,” a long-running hit that has been described as “drop-dead hilarious perfection,” to Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts Aug. 22.
Wax’s comedy details the lives of five patients at East Louisiana State Mental Hospital in Jackson who are competing to be the Louisiana State Mental Health poster model and spokesperson. The Baton Rouge native has played the wacky characters to sold-out audiences in Louisiana and across the country for 16 years.
In the serio-comic piece with music, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the downtown Hammond theater, Wax switches from one character to the next, sharing their stories along with side-splitting observations, powerful truths, and surprising moments of drama.
In addition to “Goin’ to Jackson,” Wax is the author of four other plays including “A Gift for Lyman Bourke” and the political-comedy “Homespin.” He composed the music and lyrics for “Goin’ to Jackson” and “A Gift for Lyman Bourke,” as well as the lyrics for the musical “Princess Sara,” based on the popular children’s book. He was commissioned by the Louisiana Division of the Arts to write the musical, “Passages,” to commemorate the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase.
As an actor, Wax has appeared as Eugene in all three plays of Neil Simon’s trilogy of “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound;” as Brad Majors in “The Rocky Horror Show;” young Dylan Thomas in “A Child's Christmas in Wales,” and as Pilate in “Jesus Christ Superstar.” His film work includes the feature film “Favorite Son,” and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, “The Old Man.”
Tickets for “Goin’ to Jackson” are $33, Loge; $29, Orchestra; and $25, Balcony. Special half-priced tickets for Southeastern faculty, staff and students, with a university I.D., are available.
Tickets are available at the Columbia box office, 220 East Thomas Street, 985-543-4371. Box office hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and one hour before performance times.
For information about upcoming Columbia Theatre events, visit columbiatheatre.org or call (985) 543-4366.
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